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Novartis has hired Goldman Sachs to advise on its $565m (â¬459m) cash acquisition of a Canadian drugs unit, in the US bank's first advisory role with the Swiss pharmaceutical company in three years. The deal will come as a blow to Credit Suisse First Boston, which is Novartis' most regular financial adviser.

CSFB most recently appeared alongside Novartis on its potential white knight role to save Aventis, the Franco-German drugs maker from the clutches of domestic rival Sanofi-Synthélabo. The hostile bid turned into a friendly €55bn ($68bn) offer amid political pressure that pushed Novartis out.

A spokesman for Novartis, the world's fifth largest drugs group, said it did retain banks on an ongoing basis but declined to confirm which banks. He said Goldman Sachs had been chosen because the deal was based in North America and the company uses different advisers depending on the nature and geography of the deal. He declined to comment on whether it had held a beauty parade for the role.

"We pick the best suited for the transaction and we don't comment on our banking relationships," he said.

Novartis has bought Sabex, a generic injectable drugs business from RoundTable Healthcare, a Chicago-based group. Generic drugs are generally well-established drugs that have expired their patent, giving all pharmaceutical groups a chance to compete against branded drugs. Sabex will be integrated into Novartis' Sandoz company, which focuses on generic drugs and had a turnover of €2.9bn last year.

Separately, Novartis has been in determined pursuit of domestic rival Roche since it bought a 20% stake in 2001. It now owns more than 30% - when it hits 33.3% it is obliged to make a takeover offer - but Roche on Monday reiterated it was not interested in being part of a mega merger in its first quarter results. Novartis has said it would only consider merging on a friendly basis and the spokesman for Novartis said on Monday: "We continue to hold a significant stake in Roche which we view as a long-term investment."